


An Odd Request

by k_33va



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - No Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - No Ultimate Talents (Dangan Ronpa), Bakery and Coffee Shop, F/F, Gen, Not Canon Compliant - New Dangan Ronpa V3, Waiters & Waitresses, and tsumugi fangirls, tojo's a waitress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-25 20:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14985017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k_33va/pseuds/k_33va
Summary: Kirumi’s hard at work in the cafe when a new customer enters the cafe, but notices they’re acting…a bit strange. (The dynamic is meant to be weird, but at least in an endearing sort of way. Cuz you know. Tsumugi’s being Tsumugi.)





	An Odd Request

**Author's Note:**

> [Click here to read this fic on my Tumblr!](https://k-33va.tumblr.com/post/175081057228/an-odd-request-cafe-au-kirumi-tsumugi)

It wasn’t common for the shop to be this empty during the afternoon. On a weekday nonetheless. Only a few regulars who paid most of their attention to themselves occupied the shop, having the entire place bask in quietude. No matter. If anything that gives Kirumi enough time to restock the front display with the newest batch of desserts in the oven. She was set on doing so before being abruptly interrupted by the doorbell chime, alerting her of another customer.

With her back turned as she observed the batches in the oven through the glass, she gave her usual greeting.

“Welcome to Tojo’s café. Please wait a moment and I’ll be right with you.”

She heard them quietly mumble a reply as she pulled the hot trays out of the oven with an oven mitt in hand. Gracefully and effortlessly, she sets them both aside on a nearby cooling rack. She turned her gaze across the counter and met eyes with another young woman.

“My apologies for the wait,” she said, promptly straightening her apron. “What would you like?”

The woman doesn’t immediately reply, continuing to stare at Kirumi with a blank expression. Only a moment later, their eyebrows raised when they realized Kirumi was speaking to them. She found it unusual that a customer would be surprised to have her attention, but set the thought aside.

“Miss?” she hesitantly asked. “Are you alright?”

“H-Huh? Oh sorry,” she mumbled, tugging at the ends of her long blue hair spilling from her shoulders. “I was lost in thought is all.”

Kirumi nodded with a polite smile. “No worries. What would you like?”

“Umm…” The girl pouted, a look of uncertainty washed over her face as her eyes drifted up towards the menu. “Oh wow, there’s a lot to choose from.”

“Of course,” Kirumi replied. “I strive to offer a variety of options to properly satisfy every customer’s specific taste.”

“Wow, you’re pretty thorough when it comes to your job. That’s so cute!” Her eyes gleamed with excitement and adoration, a sudden change in her energy compared to how mellow she seemed upon first impression. “If you were in an anime, you’d perfectly fit the trope of the hardworking waitress keeping your cafe alive and growing, all while struggling to fit in with your big-shot competitors!”

“Er…” For the first time, Kirumi didn’t have a response that was eloquent or direct enough to respond properly. No one had ever caught her at a loss for words like this before. “...Thank you?”

The girl simply smiled. “Yeah, you’re welcome!”

The girl didn’t continue speaking after that, leaving the two of them standing in silence. As much as she promises to keep every customer pleased and willing to strike conversation if they liked, Kirumi would prefer this one to move a bit faster. Not when another potential customer could enter and—even worse—have to wait on her.

She gave the most apologetic look she could muster. “I’m sorry, I must go check on the rest of my batches in the oven. Would you mind telling me your order before I go?”

“Oh, right! I forgot about that.” The girl looked away, grabbing at her sleeves. “Can I just have a cup of coffee and a doughnut—Make it plain, please.”

With a brief nod from Kirumi, the girl leaves the counter and sits at a small booth beside the front windows. Taking an internal sigh of relief, Kirumi turned around and began to prepare the order with ease. Once she serves the girl her order, she can go back to her routine. That is, if she isn’t caught under another discussion about an anime trope of some sort.

As she arranged the coffee and the doughnut onto the tray, she slightly freezes when she gets the feeling that she’s being observed. Evidently enough, she catches her newest customer trying their best to look away after being caught. Kirumi couldn’t help but sigh, if only she could read minds to understand why she acted this way.

Lifting the tray up with one hand and pushing the counter’s doorway aside with the other, she walked across the cafe. Carefully avoiding any tables and booths she’d set earlier that morning, standing in front of her guest’s table. The girl’s head was turned to the bustling streets outside rather than Kirumi’s direction. She didn’t pay mind to it, gently placing the tray onto the table.

“Here you are,” she said. “One cup of coffee and a plain doughnut. Just as you ordered.”

Without turning her head, the girl only acknowledged her with a firm nod. “U-Um….Thanks.”

A smile on her face from another task well done, she began to head back to her place behind the counter but stopped when a firm hand tightened around her wrist.

“Please wait!”

It was the girl again, her entire body hunched over the table just enough to reach Kirumi at her distance. Taking a brief look around the store to see if her outburst had caused a disturbance, Kirumi was relieved when the few inside only looked at up in alarm and confusion before returning to their own affairs.

“I have something to tell you,” the girl uttered. “It’ll only take a moment of your time, I promise.”

Kirumi’s brows furrowed. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” she replied, shaking her head. She released her grip and sank down once Kirumi returned beside her table “I just think it’s best that I got this off of my chest.”

“Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

“It’s just that…” As she began, Kirumi watched as her face contort in disgust. “Oh, gosh. I don’t know how to say this without sounding like the creepiest person imaginable but…I really love watching you work and stuff.” Kirumi’s eyes widened but it couldn’t be compared to the look on the girl’s own face. “Ugh! No, I didn’t mean it to sound like that! I meant it to sound like it was out of admiration or something…”

“You…admire me?” she asked. “If I may ask, what do you admire about me?”

“Gosh, I don’t know. Everyday that I see you, everything that you do, you always seem to do it with so much grace and composure. It’s like… like you make everything you do look so easy—so beautiful without even trying! You do it so often that it’s not even normal, and all that I can compare you to are those graceful, elegant women you often see in your slice of life anime or manga. Just perfect in every way possible.”

She paused, her eyes darting from the waitress’s face and the table in front of her, unable to focus on one or the other. “What I’m trying to say is…I only meant to observe you because you’re a lot like the characters in the manga that I tend to read when I come here. That’s all…”

Utterly stunned in silence, Kirumi managed to ask one question in mind. “You’ve visited here before?”

The girl had a sad smile on her face only to Kirumi’s horror. How long had she visited the cafe without her noticing? All of the hours of the day Kirumi spends doing laborious work, and the many faces she’s seen and talked to throughout the store’s open hours. Yet she never acknowledged her until now?

“I’m so sorry,” she faltered. “I had no idea. I thought this was your first time here.”

“No, no, it’s fine!” “You’re not the first anyways. You see, it’s pretty easy for me to get overlooked because of how plain I seem.

Hearing about how this was a usual occurrence for this girl only left a bad taste in her mouth. How could she stand being unattended to for so long? While her overall appearance seemed pretty ordinary, her personality caught Kirumi’s attention easily enough.

“Please don’t talk down about yourself,” she said. “From what I’ve seen, you’ve been a wonderful person to talk to when it comes to hearing about your interests.”

The girl looked up, a timid look on her face. “So you don’t think I’m creepy after confessing that this isn’t my first time here?”

As a response, Kirumi shrugged her shoulders. An uncharacteristic response, but it suited her reaction best. “I must admit it took me aback. I never had a customer so openly admit any feelings towards me if it didn’t have anything to do with my service. Nonetheless feelings out of admiration. To put it simply…no. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable to think that.”

“Does this mean that I can still come here and it won’t be awkward?”

“Not at all,” Kirumi cooly replied.

The girl took a long sigh, finally picking up the cup of coffee that’s remained idle until this point.  “Good. Thanks for understanding.”

“No problem. Also, if you plan on being one of my regulars from now on, may I ask for your name?”

“Huh? Name?” The girl paused with her plain doughnut in her hands, and chuckled. “Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. Heh heh…sorry.  My name is Tsumugi Shirogane. I may be a pretty plain person to know, but it’s nice to finally introduce myself for once.”

“Tsumugi Shirogane,” Kirumi echoed. “You have a really pretty name, Tsumugi.”

“Mmmf—” Tsumugi tried to respond, her voice was only muffled by the mouthful of doughnuts. Kirumi actually found it adorable in a way. 

“Ah, I was trying to say thank you,” she finished. “Just so I won’t have to call you by Tojo… would you mind telling me your first name?”

“But of course.” Out of habit, Kirumi straightened her apron once more, looking into the eyes of her new acquaintance. “My name is Kirumi Tojo. It’s been a pleasure to have you at my shop today. Please let me know if you require my service.”

* * *

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